May 9, Pozirk. The West is preparing for war and does not try to hide it, Alaksandar Łukašenka has told journalists in Moscow after attending a military parade, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany.
“We are being told from abroad that we should stop [remembering the victory], we just should not and so on,” his press office quoted him as saying. “They don’ like the fact that we have that heroic feat in our hearts and heads because we will defend our land the way [our ancestors] did,” he added.
At today’s parade in Moscow, the Belarusian ruler was seated next to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Both have notably strained relations after Łukašenka declared support for Azerbaijan toured Nagorno-Karabakh last year. Pashinyan reportedly said that neither he nor any other Armenian official would travel to Belarus as long as Łukašenka was in power.
Over the past few years, Łukašenka has been attending Victory Day events in Moscow, joining celebrations in Minsk later in the day. This year’s parade is planned on a grand scale, scheduled to open at 8.30 p.m. and featuring more than 24 ceremonial units and aircraft.
The parade will also reportedly showcase the Belarusian army’s modern military equipment along with retro equipment from the 1945 victory parade in Moscow.
The Victory Day celebrations on this scale are consistent with the Belarusian government’s dedication to Soviet legacies, including the commemoration of the Great Patriotic War outside of the Second World War context.
